More now on the
health of actor Bruce Willis.
His family
revealing today
that Willis is suffering
from a disease called
frontotemporal dementia.
In a statement,
they say that, quote,
Since we announced versus
diagnosis of aphasia in spring of 2022,
Bruce's condition has progressed
and we now have a more
specific diagnosis.
Frontotemporal dementia known as FTD.
Unfortunately, challenges
with communication are just one
symptom of the disease that Bruce faces.
While this is painful,
it is a relief to finally have
a clear diagnosis.
I'm joined by CNN medical analyst Dr.
Jonathan Reiner.
Dr. Reiner, great to see you tonight.
So what is frontotemporal dementia
and how common is it
So in frontotemporal
dementia is sort of an umbrella term that
describes a series of conditions
that ultimately result in the loss
of neural tissue
in the frontal
and temporal lobes of the brain.
The frontal lobes
sort of behind your forehead,
the temporal lobes
sort of behind your ears.
Those are the parts of the brain
that are involved with helping you
form certain behaviors,
process, hearing, form memories.
And ultimately it results in
clinical conditions that sometimes
radically change the behavior
of a patient
or result in a difficulty communicate
And I think last year, when
Mr.
Wilson's family reported
that he was suffering from aphasia,
that was the first clue that
he had frontotemporal dementia,
which often involves
some form of aphasia.
What causes this
It's a
disease with multiple causes.
There is
sometimes a genetic component of some.
This can run in families.
It's a relatively rare disease
seen in about 50,000 Americans.
But it's it's
probably the most common form of dementia
in young people,
particularly in people
between the ages of 45
and 65 years of age.
But overall,
this type of dementia
probably doesn't account
for more
than about
20% of the different forms of dementia
that occur in people as they age.
And what are the symptoms.
I mean we've been told by his family
that he's having communication issues
and it's been written about that.
He's been in movies recently
but he was,
you know, had very small parts
and was sort of fed lines.
Had to be Fed lines. What other symptoms
Right.
So that may be
that he
was having difficulty with memory.
So as I said earlier,
some people have difficulty
actually in completing sentences
or forming coherent thoughts.
Some patients will develop
outrageous behaviors,
a sort of lack of any inhibition,
increase in sexual activity,
bizarre outbursts,
particularly when the disease
involves the frontal lobes.
So the behavior of patients
can be very disturbing to families
that people can live with this disease.
For you know, for years, which is
sometimes a curse.
What a challenge.
What a challenge for the family,
everything you've just described.
Are there treatments for this disease?
There's no cure for the disease, but
patients can be treated
with anxiolytic drugs to treat anxiety
to help calm some of the outbursts.
Sometimes anti-doping lessons
can help, but there is really no
cure for this disease.
It's a progressive disease
that ultimately will result in death
But it can take many years.
It really is a curse,
as you describe it, because you
it sounds like the body.
And he's a strong man.
I mean, he's a strong fit man.
And so for his brain
to be betraying him in
this way will be a huge challenge
right now.
Dr. Reiner.
And this can and this can go on.
I'm sorry.
Go.
You can finish your son's
Now, I was going to say, you know,
this can go on for many years,
and it becomes
it can become a tremendous burden
for families
to care
for people
affected with these conditions.
Yeah, I can imagine.
Dr. Reiner, it's sad.
Thank you very much
for all the information.
Nice to have you with us tonight.
Thanks, Alisyn.